Update

On April 30, the Federal Reserve expanded its Main Street Lending Program to allow small and mid-size oil companies to access emergency COVID-19 funds. As a result, oil and gas companies have received over $113 million in COVID-19 relief meant for small businesses.

Incarcerated people have the same needs and fears as the un-incarcerated. But incarceration institutions, by their very nature, deny the humanity of the people they house. This continual denial of humanity leads to psychological scarring that lasts long after a person is released.

We know that COVID-19 is a threat to the health and safety of millions of Americans. But a less-discussed effect of the pandemic is its impact on the health and safety of our elections.

The House passed the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800), a comprehensive bill to further address the COVID-19 pandemic and economic fallout. FCNL has been lobbying Congress to include many policy provisions in the next COVID-19 bill.

I became a Quaker because of FCNL. Part of that story is personal, tied to the people I have met through this work, including my fellow intern and now husband. FCNL has introduced me to communities and people who are now, quite literally, my family.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone, people of color are disproportionately impacted.

Do you remember the 2016 election? With two candidates that had seemingly nothing in common and almost opposite policies, there was a lot at stake.

The COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t stop thousands of Quakers from conducting business with FCNL this March and April. 215 Meetings and Churches, as well as Yearly and Quarterly Meetings, chose to center their first virtual meetings for business on discerning FCNL’s legislative priorities for the 117th Congress.

We are living in a time of concurrent global crises. There is the COVID-19 pandemic at the forefront of our minds. It is forcing us to stay home, constantly wash our hands, and wonder when this time of uncertainty will end. Despite this immediate threat, there is still the persistently looming climate crisis. While its presence may be less obvious, it continues to affect communities across the world.

There have been a lot of things that have given me joy working as your Quaker Field Secretary over the past four, nearly five years now. The work has been inextricably woven with my deepening faith practice, and I have fallen in awe and in love with so many Friends.